ICONEQ stresses Self-Reliance, Sustainability & Competitiveness in CE sector

The ‘Make in India’ initiative has played a crucial role in development of the Indian Construction Equipment sector, said Sunil Khurana, Conference Chairman & COO, JCB India Ltd at the 1st edition of CII International Conference on Construction Equipment (ICONEQ) organised at Gurugram with the theme “Sustainable Manufacturing and Resilient Technologies”. “With support from business-friendly policies of the Government, the Indian Construction Equipment sector has become a major exporter and is on the path becoming globally competitive by enhancing product quality and at the same time reducing costs,” he stated. Khurana further emphasised the importance of sustainable manufacturing by promoting carbon reduction and increasing use of renewable energy viz. solar and wind in the factories.

In his special address, Shantanu Roy. Chairman & Managing Director, BEML Ltd highlighted the importance of the current decade in the growth story of Indian Economy to achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047. He emphasized the pivotal role of initiatives like ‘Make in India and Make for the World’ for the manifold growth of Indian industry. Mr Roy further stressed on the need of adopting innovative tools like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning that will go a long way to bring down the cost and help Indian companies becoming competitive worldwide. While addressing participants, Abhimanyu Sharaff, Vice Chairman, CII Haryana State Council & Executive Director, Sanden Vikas India Pvt Ltd stated that to meet the rising demand as well as increasing competition, the construction equipment industry has majorly shifted towards digitalization and the adoption of advanced technologies which is generating desired results. Rajiv Chaturvedi, Vice President – Sales & Marketing, After Service & Parts, HD Hyundai Construction Equipment India Pvt Ltd highlighted that in the current evolving scenario, we should focus on minimizing imports in order to become self-reliant and self-independent. To achieve this, we need to innovate in an increasingly competitive landscape, emphasised Chaturvedi. Addressing participants, Manish Handa, President – Backhoe Loaders Division, Action Construction Equipment Ltd stated that the construction equipment industry holds the potential to increase the penetration of construction equipment by 5-6 times in India and the one of the major requirements for that is the industry should work towards becoming self-reliant.

Senior representatives from the Indian Construction Equipment fraternity addressed delegates, including officials from DANA India, Escorts Kubota, Parker Hannifin India, Schunk Intec India, and SIMHEM, among others. The Summit held three brainstorming sessions on challenges and opportunities, a resilient Supply Chain ecosystem, and technological advancement. The one-day event was attended by over 250 participants from the construction equipment sector.